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rules of origin

Preferential treatment provided for in a free trade agreement is usually granted only to products originating from members of that FTA, so rules of origin are important. These are the criteria which determine the national origin of a product. The country of origin of a product is usually seen as the country where the last substantial transformation took place.

Enforcing and defining rules of origin for goods or services poses major problems. This issue has been very controversial in a number of agreements and trade unions and other critics have campaigned to highlight the ways in which rules of origin can be used and abused by governments and corporations alike. In particular there are concerns about the ease with which goods processed partly or fully in a third country can receive duty-free access under a bilateral agreement by being re-exported with just enough processing to satisfy rules of origin requirements. This is further complicated by the fact that different bilateral free trade agreements use different criteria to set rules of origin.

P4 Economic Partnership Agreement - key outcomes
5-Jun-2005 Scoop
Press release from NZ government outlining key features of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.
Textile makers oppose FTA over origin of raw materials
26-Apr-2005
Thai textile and garment producers say they will lose opportunities to sell to Japan if conditions requested by Tokyo are incorporated into a free trade area (FTA) agreement now being negotiated.
Entrepreneurs apprehensive of Pak-Lanka FTA misuse
21-Mar-2005
Upcountry industrialists and business community have asked the economic managers to strictly monitor goods traded under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka.
Vanaspati units seek changes in FTAs with Nepal, Lanka
10-Mar-2005
Vanaspati industry has appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make suitable amendments in the free trade agreements (FTAs) with Nepal and Sri Lanka.
FTA with Seoul hindered by goods made in North
1-Feb-2005 Asahi
Products made by South Korean companies in an industrial park north of the demilitarized zone are likely to form the latest kink in sputtering free trade talks between Tokyo and Seoul.
India to align ROO on ASEAN model
20-Jan-2005
India will adopt the Indo-ASEAN FTA criterion for Rules Of Origin (ROO) for all the other trade pacts with Asian countries, including Thailand and Singapore.
The US-Jordan FTA: Defogging the Myth
31-Dec-2004
The purpose of this article is to give an account of the history and some provisions of the US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement and assess the extent to which the FTA provides a viable “model” to the proposed US-Middle East Free Trade Agreement.
Rules of origin: US, Thai FTA’s ’most restrictive’
22-Dec-2004 News.com.au
An Australian Productivity Commission report into trade and assistance reviews found conditions attached to the free trade agreements signed with the United States and Thailand would be more restrictive than similar deals.
Singapore Ceca hits a roadblock
10-Nov-2004
The proposed Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (Ceca) between India and Singapore has hit a bump. The Singapore government has made out a strong case for product-specific relaxation of the rules of origin (ROO) criteria for over 480 items.
Unravelling the complex rationale of RTAs
3-Nov-2004 Financial Express
Proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has been a striking development in the world’s trading systems since the mid-1990s.
NCAER slams India-Thailand FTA
23-Oct-2004 Indian Express
Economic think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has questioned the usefulness of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which India signed with Thailand.
Tom Yam Swamp
10-Oct-2004 Outlook India
The Indo-Thai FTA is great news, but who will it benefit?
India, Thailand may set an example of successful FTA
7-Sep-2004 Finanacial Express
India and Thailand have agreed to moved faster in the direction of a free trade area (FTA) by reducing by half their applied levels of tariffs on 82 select commodities. This comes into effect from September 1, 2004.
EU, Israel resolve trade dispute over settlements
27-Aug-2004 EU, Israel resolve trade dispute over settlements
Goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will no longer be allowed to enter the European Union tariff-free under an agreement initialed on Thursday.
EU deal in ’Made in Israel’ row
7-Aug-2004 EU deal in ’Made in Israel’ row
Agreement has been reached in a wrangle between the European Commission and Israel over goods made in Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza.
Kamal Nath to review FTAs, may change stance on rules of origin
28-Jun-2004
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has put the proposed free trade agreements (FTAs) under the scanner amid fears that in many of the upcoming FTAs India might give away more than it would take, unless the country repositions its stance in many cases.
Free trade agreements and the transformation of global trade
29-May-2004 Modern Plastics
The Cancun round of WTO negotiations in Mexico last year ended in disarray, prompting countries to seek other means of freeing up trade.
Rules of origin need proper perspective under trade pacts
28-May-2004 Rules of origin need proper perspective under trade pacts
Rules of origin (RoI) are emerging as one of the most important issues in the context of preferential trading relations of a country. They are a set of instruments, a lack of consensus on which can, and have, delayed several agreements on trade.
Regionalism and the multilateral trade system
20-Apr-2004
Regional trade agreements (RTAs) are an integral part of international trade, accounting for almost half of world trade and expected to grow further in the next few years. These agreements operate alongside global multilateral agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO), and have both positive and negative effects.